A division of SCLA

April’s TIF meeting will be a joint meeting with our counterparts from NCLA. This is turning into a bi-annual event because we all have the same goals and issues, so why not share! These joint meetings have been a terrific way for us to share knowledge across county borders… Don’t miss out! Bring your questions, stories and technology victories!

Joint NCLA/SCLA CATSTIF Technology Meeting taking place at the Merrick Library on Thursday, April 5th at 10am.

Some potential discussion items include:

·Using Software to track patron queries at service desks for state report stats (https://gimlet.us/)

·Wifi-based patron counters for attendance tracking

·Use of tablets for ready reference and the demoing of apps like Hoopla, Flipster, Libby, etc.

·Net Neutrality status

·Current “flavor of the month” for secure cloud backup of confidential files

The Computer and Technical Services division of SCLA (CATS) is pleased to announce an upcoming tour of StonyBrook University’s iCREATE Innovation Lab, to take place on Wednesday, March 21, 2018, 12 p.m.

The Innovation Lab is comprised of three on-campus makerspaces that feature things like vinyl cutters, 3D printers, and green screen and virtual reality technologies. Attendees should park at the Administration Parking Garage. A student volunteer will be on hand to direct the group from there.

The next TIF meeting will be held at the Longwood Public Library in Middle Island. This month Aurora from SCLS will give a live demo of Google Expedition which is a way to teach classes with virtual reality. This new tool is available through SCLS’s Lending Library. We will also have our round table discussion after the presentation, so bring your questions to pose to the group. If you can’t make the meeting, you can still attend virtually because we use Facebook Live to stream the meeting. And this, along with just about a year’s worth of meetings is available from the TIF page on Facebook.

On February 1st (9:30 for coffee and 10am for meeting), we will be having our TIF meeting at the Patchogue-Medford Carnegie Building. This month Anthony Bliss from the Sachem Public Library will be discussing drones at the library and demonstrating the innovative way he allows children and teens to fly drones in the library! We will also have our round table discussion, so bring your victories, defeats and share your knowledge with the group!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Believe it or not it is time to talk about our January TIF meeting! We will be meeting at the Islip Public Library on Thursday January 4th 9:30 for coffee and refreshments and 10am for the meeting. As we usually do for January is to start fresh and have an open round table discussion. So bring your victories, setbacks and questions for the group. We all learn so much from these discussions.

On December 7th , CATS and TIF will have their Annual Meeting at 9:30 a.m. in the SCLS auditorium. There will be a light breakfast served. Guest speaker Rebecca Stavick from Do SpaceOmaha will be appearing via video teleconference. She will talk about Do Space, a privately funded public makerspace, successful things they’re doing and will even give a walking tour with their “Dual Robot”. There is no fee to attend.

The CATS Group is hosting a Technical Services Round Table Discussion. This is a great opportunity for technical services librarians and clerks to come together and share techniques, strategies, cataloging and securing non traditional items for circulation. Bring your victories, stories and unique locking or storing boxes, bags or pouches to share with the group.